SC Freiburg vs. Stuttgart preview: The Baden-Württemberg derby
Freiburg host 3rd-place Stuttgart, who are looking to return to their early season form in which they destroyed the Breisgau club 5-0 on Matchday 3.
SC Freiburg
Freiburg looked out of sorts in a loss to Bremen last week and barely troubled the Werder defense. Roland Sallai has luckily recovered from an illness and should provide a badly-needed offensive spark on Matchday 20.
They are still sitting comfortably at 7th in the table, but games are about to come thick and fast for a fairly thin squad with the Europa League returning in just a couple weeks. Freiburg decided not to make any more winter transfers after Yannik Keitel decided he would finish the season with the club before moving to Stuttgart.
In his presser, Christian Streich stated, "(Stuttgart) have a very good team that is doing well tactically and in terms of football. And they deserve to be where they are currently in a Champions League place. - We want to play a really good game, stand up to them and really take our fans along in the derby."
Team News
Streich is “leaning towards” a squad selection for captain Christian Günter on Saturday. Philipp Lienhart, Max Rosenfelder, Kenneth Schmidt and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh remain out, while Ritsu Doan is away at the Asian Cup.
Stuttgart
Led by Deniz Undav, Stuttgart destroyed Leipzig last week in a huge boost to their European dreams after losing the first two games to start the new year. Atakan Karazor should provide another boost to the midfield alongside Angelo Stiller this week, as he returns from suspension.
In unfortunate news, Dan-Axel Zagadou tore his ACL in training and is out for the season. Stuttgart were unable to find a replacement before the transfer window closed, although former Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud was signed on loan from Brighton and Chris Führich penned a contract extension until 2028.
When asked about Zagadou’s injury, Sebastian Hoeneß commented, “Daxo is one of our key players and one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga, combining strong tackling and heading with footballing ability. He’s also one of the best characters I’ve ever worked with and a very important point of contact for me. It’s a tough blow for us.”
Team News
Zagadou is expected to be replaced by Anthony Rouault in a two-man center-back pairing. Nikolas Nartey is still injured, while Serhou Guirassy, Silas, Wooyeong Jeong and Hiroki Ito are away with their international teams.